Sensei Vicente Rodriguez

Vicente started his martial arts journey in 1976, while living in Mexico, with the practice of an eclectic and full contact art combining Lima Lama, Jiu Jitsu and Capoeira. In 1983, during his first quarter as a freshman at UCSD, he had the fortune to join Aoinagi-Ha Shito Ryu under Sensei Neville Billimoria, who to date he continues to train with.

Since joining Aoinagi at UCSD, Vicente has had rewarding experiences sharing the art he loves and continuing to learn and grow. He started the first Aoinagi UCSD remote dojo in Iowa as a grad student, and more recently at the Salk Institute together with Isabelle Guimont. He has participated in local and national level competitions (a great experience and particularly rewarding when working together with a team), attended multiple seminars and camps, such as the ITKF Summer camps, Zen Bei Butokukai International Summer camps in Canada, Kokusai Butokukai International Summer camp and our own Winter Camps at UCSD.

Vicente’s martial arts journey has taught him many life lessons, which have influenced his life beyond what any words can express. Those lessons have permeated not only his martial arts practice but also many of the other roles he plays: father, husband, son, brother, friend and engineer.